Jenkins to Speak on Global Christianity

January 19, 2012

University professor, author and lecturer Dr. Philip Jenkins will present three lectures at OBU, hosted by the OBU Hobbs College of Theology and Ministry, on Monday, Feb. 6. The community is invited to attend.

From 10-11 a.m., Jenkins will present the lecture titled “Overview of Global Christianity” in the Geiger Center, rooms 218-220. From 3-4 p.m., he will speak on the topic “Justice, Violence and Christianity” in the Geiger Center, room 218. From 7-8 p.m., he will speak on the topic “North American Response to the State of Global Christianity,” in Tulsa Royalties Auditorium.

Jenkins serves as the Edwin Erle Sparks professor of humanities at Pennsylvania State University. He previously served at the university as professor and distinguished professor of history and religious studies, as well as assistant, associate and then full professor of criminal justice and American studies. He is also a distinguished senior fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, where he serves as co-director for the institute’s Initiative on Historical Studies of Religion.

The author of 24 books and about 120 chapters and articles, Jenkins serves as a contributing editor for The American Conservative magazine and writes a monthly column for The Christian Century. He also has written articles for Christianity Today, First Things and The Atlantic. His books have been translated into 12 languages: Chinese, Dutch, Estonian, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian and Spanish.

Born in Port Talbot, Wales, he studied at Clare College in the University of Cambridge, taking double first-class honors in both history and Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic studies. He studied for his Ph.D. under the supervision of British historian Sir John Plumb, among others. From 1977-80, he worked as a researcher for Sir Leon Radzinowicz, the pioneer of criminology at Cambridge. In 1979, Jenkins won the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) quiz show, Mastermind.

Since 1980, Jenkins has delivered more than 100 papers to scholarly gatherings and professional associations, most regularly to groups such as the American Society of Criminology, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the Pennsylvania Historical Association. He has spoken frequently on aspects of global Christianity and the expansion of Christianity in the global South.

During the past decade, Jenkins said he has participated in several hundred interviews with the mass media, including newspapers, radio and television, and he has been quoted frequently in news reports in North America and Europe. His media appearances include newspapers and radio stations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Brazil, as well as in many different regions of the United States.

He has appeared on numerous news specials and CNN documentaries covering a variety of topics, including the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, as well as serial murder, terrorism and aspects of violent crime. In the past few years, most of his media appearances have concerned the topic of global Christianity. He has often appeared on talk radio, including National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and “Fresh Air,” and on various BBC programs.

For more information about the lectures, contact Nola Moseley at (405) 585-4426.